Luke Littler sent 'crumble' warning by Premier League Darts rival

03/06/2025 12:04 PM

Rob Cross says anyone can crumble on the oche if they are put under enough pressure, including men of the moment Luke Littler and Luke Humphries.

Humphries and Littler have been sharing most of the headlines in darts for some time, with the former still top of the world rankings and the latter the reigning world champion.

They have both started this season impressively, with Humphries winning the Winmau Masters and Littler the UK Open, while Cool Hang is top and the Nuke second in the Premier League table.

Cross has reminded them that they remain mortals, though, and feels he can beat either of them if he finds his best stuff.

Voltage was beaten 6-5 by Littler in the Premier League in Glasgow despite leading 5-1, but he will have another chance to take down a big beast when he faces Humphries in Brighton on Thursday night.

‘I believe I can beat anyone when I’m on,’ Cross told The Sun. ‘Look, we’re not talking about God’s here are we?

‘I don’t think that is disrespectful. Realistically, if you put it on people, depending on which stage, they don’t have the answer for it all the time.

‘I was 5-1 up against him [Littler] in the Premier League – he did well to win, but I had match darts. I probably faded. That’s more on me. I probably averaged 93/94 through those five legs and that was my undoing.

‘I don’t think he’s God-like. Realistically, on any given day if you put it on them, everyone will crumble at certain times.’

Cross is sounding very confident at the moment and has set the aim of this being the best season of his career in terms of titles.

‘I want to win more,’ said the world number four. ‘I think the most I've won in a year is five titles. I would love to beat that this year and have the best year of my life.

‘That is the plan and that's what I am going to keep pushing towards.

‘It's about taking my chances. If you had spoken to me three or four months ago, it felt like my scoring wasn't there at times.

‘That is back now, and everything feels good in my game. I want to perform now, and I'm hungry for more success this year.’

The 34-year-old will be hoping to land his first weekly win at the Premier League on Thursday in Brighton, although he is yet to reach a final over the first four weeks of action.

Two semi-finals mean he is still in touching distance of the top four, despite a pretty uneventful start to his campaign.

Cross takes on Humphries in Thursday’s quarter-final, Littler meets Chris Dobey, Gerwyn Price faces Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting looks for his first points of the competition against Nathan Aspinall.